How Not To Write a First Draft

I'm in the dreaded middle of the first draft of a new novel. And I'm doing everything wrong. So if you want to succeed as an author, feel free to learn from my mistakes:

1. When your agent contacts you about your manuscript that she's submitting (the one you thought you were finished with), DO NOT come up with the perfect way to revise it now.

2. And whatever you do, DO NOT start that revision, even if you think it will only take a week or two.

3. DO NOT go to an incredible writing retreat where you'll learn so much about writing that you'll realize everything you've written so far in your first draft is complete dreck.

4. DO NOT meet talented and personable authors at said writing retreat and then go home and check all their books out of the library.

5. And absolutely, positively, DO NOT start reading their books.

6. DO NOT go to another event where a funny author whom you admire talks about what makes humorous picture books work.

7. And definitely DO NOT get inspired to write a picture book now.

8. When your husband asks how the writing is going, DO NOT tell him the terrible horrible truth, unless you want him to back up in fear, hide the sharp objects, and keep his distance from you for the rest of the evening/week/month.

9. If a special holiday is coming up, like Valentine's Day for example, DO NOT spend time creating the perfect gifts and cards for everyone in your family. Even if it makes you happy.

10. In other words, if you want to finish a first draft of a novel, DO NOT let life interfere.

I'm serious.

Your family doesn't really need you.

And you don't really need to enrich yourself as a writer, or a reader, or even as a human being.

I'm telling you, if you let life interfere with that first draft, you will never finish. Ever.

Well, maybe you will finish eventually.

But it will take you a long time. Longer than you expected. Longer than you want. And it will be harder than you ever imagined. Because writing is hard. There are no shortcuts. There is nothing quick and easy about it. And because life is complicated and funny and tragic and beautiful and busy, and if you're living it right, it will impact everything you do.

But. If you stick with your manuscript and work on it a little bit every day, no matter how long it takes you, no matter how much life interferes, at some point, you'll finish that first draft.

And then?

You can revise.

A Weekend with Richard Peck

Richard Peck is a treasure. I hadn't realized that until this weekend. Sure, I respected him as an author, and I admired his work. Who wouldn't respect a man who created the hilarious character of Grandma Dowdel and won both a Newbery Honor and Medal for her? But the reason I signed up for SCBWI-Illinois' weekend writing retreat facilitated by Richard Peck was not because of Grandma Dowdel. It was because of one of my critique partners, Carol Grannick. Carol is a Richard Peck uber-fan. She reads and re-reads his books all the time. She thinks of Richard the way I think of Judy Blume. And so I had to go. Our whole critique group had to go. And what a weekend we had! Here are just a few of the gems Richard gave us:

On craft...

• If you see an adverb, shoot.


• Delete 'There was' at the beginning of your sentences.


• Remove 'as if' from your manuscript.


• The middle of the novel is either rising of falling. There are no plateaus. Make it high - like a circus tent pole.


• The first page of your book is its table of contents. All the clues and plot elements should be there.

On process...

• Stand up and act out your scenes.


• When you're stuck, go back and retype a page from before. Edit it. Remove the adverbs. Cut twenty more words. Whatever you do, don't leave the desk.


• At the end, throw away the first chapter. Rewrite it.


• Finally, examine your opening line. Is it the best you can do?

On being a writer...

• Writing fiction is the struggle to give life a shape.


• Childhood is a jungle, not a garden.


• We're writers. We can inhabit other people's space.


• Nobody a writer loves is ever dead.

Richard also surprised and honored us by reading a chapter from his work-in-progress, and believe it or not, it is a new book featuring Grandma Dowdel! What a treat!

I will forevermore hear Richard's encouraging, yet discerning, voice in my head as I write. (I can hear him now, but I keep telling myself this is just a blog, it doesn't have to be perfect!)

Here is Carol presenting Richard with a Grandma Dowdel for President campaign button!

And here's our critique group at dinner Saturday night.

Jenny Meyerhoff, Carol Grannick

Me, and Ellen Reagan